COCA-COLAS USE OF STRATEGIC CHOICES - Free Essay Example

Sample details Pages: 4 Words: 1233 Downloads: 1 Date added: 2017/06/26 Category Marketing Essay Type Analytical essay Did you like this example? Strategic choices are concerned with decisions about an organisations future and the way in which it has to respond to the myriad of pressures and influences as a result of its immediate and macro environment. To this end there are three basic choices to be made as shown below. Methods for pursuing strategies The choices about how strategies are to be pursued Don’t waste time! Our writers will create an original "COCA-COLAS USE OF STRATEGIC CHOICES" essay for you Create order Strategy directions The choices of products and markets available to an organisation Bases of competitive Strategy The choices as to how an organisation positions itself in relation to competitors Bases of competitive Strategy directions Methods for pursuing Strategy strategies Source: Adapted from Johnson, Scholes and Whittington; exploring corporate strategy 2008: pp217. Bases of competitive strategy This area has to do with how Coca-Cola has positioned itself in relation to its competitors. The Coca-Cola Company competes in the non-alcoholic beverages segment of the commercial beverages industry. The non-alcoholic beverages segment of the commercial beverages industry is highly competitive, consisting of numerous firms. These include firms that, like Coca-Cola, compete in multiple geographic areas, as well as firms that are primarily regional or local in operation. Competitive products include numerous non-alcoholic sparkling beverages; various water products, including packaged, flavoured and enhanced waters; juices and nectars; fruit drinks and dilutables (including syrups and powdered drinks); coffees and teas; energy and sports and other performance-enhancing drinks; dairy-based drinks; functional beverages; and various other non-alcoholic beverages. These competitive beverages are sold to consumers in both ready-to-drink and other than ready-to-drink form. In many of the countries in which Coca-Cola does business, including the United States, PepsiCo. Inc. is one of its primary competitors. Other significant competitors include, Nestl ´e, Dr Pepper Snapple Group, Inc., Groupe Danone, Kraft Foods Inc, and Unilever etc. In certain markets, its competition includes beer companies. Coca-Cola also competes against numerous regional and local firms and, in some markets, against retailers that have developed their own store or private label beverage brands. The strategy clock: competitive strategy options High Differentiation 2 4 Hybrid 5 Focussed differentiation 3 Perceived Product/ Service 2 Low price 6 7 1 No frills Strategies destined for failure 8 Low High Low Price Source: Adapted from Johnson, Scholes and Wittington; exploring corporate strategy. 2008; pp 225 The strategy clock above represents different positions in a market where customers or potential customers have different requirement in terms of value for money. Coca-Cola has therefore taken the strategy option of hybrid, in which case it maintains its price but tries to differentiate itself from competitors. The Company has had a mix of pricing, advertising, sales promotion programs, product innovation, increased efficiency in production techniques, the introduction of new packaging, new vending and dispensing equipment, and brand and trademark development and protection. In this regard Coca-Cola has increased its annual marketing budget substantially, launched many new products, and developed a model to help its retail customers maximize their sales while it continue to plan for the future. The risk of this choice is that one could lose market share due to its low prices but then it can be tackled through economies of scale where the company produces in large quantities to cover cost and tries to penetrate different geographies as is the case of Coca-Cola. This choice has actually proved beneficial to Coca-Cola even though its market share has not grown tremendously as one would think over the last ten years but it definitely has a much higher market share than its competitors, especially Pepsi Co. This has been possible for Coca-Cola due to its recognised brand name and strong presence in so many geographies including Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America, North America and the Pacific spanning across 200 countries. Strategy direction This has to do with the scope of a company in terms of its products. Over the last few years Coca-Cola has introduced a lot of products to its portfolio, including the recent Coca-Cola zero, which sold more than 600 million cases globally. Today Coca-Cola does not only deal in non-alcoholic soft drinks, but it also makes a lot of juices and juice drinks, still and carbonated products. As a matter of fact Coca-Cola has more than 3,300 products in more than 200 countries. In general one can rightly say that Coca-Cola has gone into diversification since it has not only shifted from soft drink to juices and even energy drinks but has also ventured and penetrated larger market over the years. Diversification is simply a strategy that takes the organisation away from both its existing market and its existing products. We have therefore used the Ansoff matrix below to identify the strategy direction which Coca-Cola is taking Box D, which is diversification. The Ansoff matrix provides a si mplified way of generating four basic alternative directions for strategic development. Strategic directions (Ansoff matrix) Products Existing New A B Market penetration Product development Consolidation C D Market development Diversification Existing Markets New Source: Adapted from Johnson, Scholes and Wittington; exploring corporate strategy. 2008; pp258 Diversification happened to be a good strategic option for Coca-Cola as it helped the Company to break new grounds in business. For instance a new product like the Coca-Cola zero did so well in terms of sales. This therefore impacted positively on the companys market share. Again shifting from soft drinks to energy and sports drinks also gave Coca-Cola an opportunity of a larger market share. However diversification can be capital intensive as not all organisations will be able to cope with the finances involved since a lot of finances will be needed to go into research and development for the new product. For instance Pepsi-cola once came up with a new product called Meca cola but it wasnsuccessful and the product was withdrawn later on. Surely there will be a lot of laboratory works and feasibility studies to go with a new product and this will equally require skilled peop le getting involved and consequently hiring more employees so if the organisation does not have enough finances it may not be able to cope. Again the organisation which decides to diversify will put in place an adequate amount of public awareness in terms of advertisements and trainings. This may involve using news papers, television, internet etc. All these can be very enormous so diversification requires careful planning. Methods for pursuing strategies Most of Coca-Cola products are manufactured and sold by its bottling partners. The Company typically sell concentrates and syrups to its bottling partners, who convert them into finished packaged products which they sell to distributors and other customers. Separate contracts (Bottlers Agreements) exist between the Company and each of its bottling partners regarding the manufacture and sale of Company products. Subject to specified terms and conditions and certain variations, the Bottlers Agreements generally authorize the bottlers to prepare specified Company Trademark Beverages, to package the same in authorized containers, and to distribute and sell the same in (but, subject to applicable local law, generally only in) an identified territory. The bottler is obligated to purchase its entire requirementof concentrates or syrups for the designated Company Trademark Beverages from the Company or Company-authorized suppliers. Coca-Cola agrees to refrain from selling or distributing, or from authorizing third parties to sell or distribute, the designated Company Trademark Beverages throughout the identified territory in the particular authorized containers. The Coca-Cola Company has created and achieved a strategic lock-in such that it has achieved dominance in the industry. For instance many people will think of Coke once they think of using or taking a soft drink.

Essay on Personal Experience The Co-Founder of Room to Read

Hi, my name is Mary Doe , and I am a co-founder of Room to Read. Let me tell you a little bit about myself. I have always loved to read. In fact, Dr. Seuss’s children’s books were my favourite and I still keep them in my shelves today. Reading filled my imagination and gave me inspiration since childhood that still impacts me today. I can only think of a few things that are more powerful than a book. Though many of the people around us enjoy the luxury of having access to libraries and books everyday, that is not the case for the vast majority of people around the world. Please consider the following statistics: 759 million people cannot read or write 98% live in the developing world 2/3 are girls and women This is†¦show more content†¦It became the next big chapter in my life. It was a simple idea. We started off by partnering with schools to establish public libraries. We printed off books so we made sure the children had a print safe environment for learning. 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Education and Forthcoming English Olympiad Free Essays

P. T. M. We will write a custom essay sample on Education and Forthcoming English Olympiad or any similar topic only for you Order Now T. T. I MARUTHOORKONAM, BALARAMAPURAM Attention Students!!! ENGLISH OLYMPIAD-2012-13 P. T. M. T. T. I wishes to inform all teacher trainees the details of the forthcoming English Olympiad 2012 on 12th Dec 2012 at T. T. I Auditorium. Items for competition 1. Skit 2. Choreography 3. Book Review 4. Group discussion  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   Details 1. A Skit of about 15 minutes can be staged by 10 participants. The dialogue, stage settings etc. hould be decided by the Trainees under the guidance of Teachers. Theme: Human Values 2. A poem composed by a student /a group of students of the school may be staged. Maximum 10 students can participate among whom not less than two students may be for recitation. Theme: Love. (Time. 10 Minutes) 3. Book Review. Three Books will be suggested for reading. The selected student can read the books and come prepared to answer the questions of the panel of judges. Time: 10 Minutes. Books will be informed. . Group Discussion. Time: 20 Minutes A group of ten trainees will be selected to participate in the discussion. G. D. Topic will be announced on the spot. Evaluation: All the items will be assessed based on the criteria in the English Source books. The decision of the judges will be final and may not be questioned. Please register the name and the participating items by 5th Nov 2012 to Smt. Sheeba Rani, Club Convener. Best of luck to all participants! R,Anu Krishnan, Teacher Educator. How to cite Education and Forthcoming English Olympiad, Papers

Harmonic Biodiversity is Crucial to Survival Essay Example For Students

Harmonic Biodiversity is Crucial to Survival Essay Biodiversity, as defined by E.O. Wilson, is meant to be allinclusive- its the genetic based variation of living organisms at alllevels, from the variety of genes in populations of single species, throughspecies, on up to the array of natural ecosystems. This includes plants,animals, insects, fungi, bacteria, and all microorganisms. All of thesethings create what is known as a web. These things interact with eachother in some way there for they depend on one another throughouttheir lifetime. There are many separate ways in which we can studybiodiversity. These ways include, genetic, species, community, ecosystem,and taxonomic diversity. Biodiversity can be best number of species in agiven area, or scientifically, species richness.Today, there is a biodiversity crisis facing us. This iscaused mainly by the destruction of habitats. This dramatically increasesthe rate at which species decrease in number and become extinct. It isappalling to know that we are the main cause of this. Over f ishing,pollution, over cutting, and an increase in population contribute to thisproblem. Contamination of the environment of, for example, fish can in turnharm humans who eat those fish. Biodiversity promotes a healthy environment. Environmentsrich in biodiversity are stronger and can with stand things such asdrought, disease, and other stresses that environments that lack it cannot. In the video, during the drought, the side of the field with a morediverse environment held stern as the other wilted away.Areas that are verydiverse are very important to humans as well. They provide a wide range ofpharmaceuticals such as aspirin and penicillin. Some 40 percent of U.S. prescriptions are for pharmaceuticals derived from wild plants, animals andmicroorganisms. Old growth forests play a detrimental role in biodiversitypreservation. Its most important feature is biodiversity. Old growthforests provide us with many of the thingsthat we as humans take for granted, for example, breathable air pure water,and pest control through birds, bats, and insects. In the Eastern U.S.,most of the old growth occurs in small isolated areas. Scientists have cometo the conclusion that even if these matured areas cover a substantialportion of landscape, it will not provide long term diversity for manyspecies that live in such a community. Many environmentalists are increasingly concerned with thisbiodiversity crisis. As humans we need to do our part to end this. Mostpeople dont realize the overall and astounding effect of environment inour lives. This is the worlds most important resource and every effortshould be made to protect the biodiversity of the Earth. Our very existencehinges on such a thing.

Accounting Ethics Essay Sample

Accounting Ethics Essay Sample Accounting Ethics Essay Accounting is a form of activity that intends to provide an inventory of a product or a system that contains numerical figures. Basically, accounting concentrates on numbers that are indicated from financial reports made by the operating organization. The purpose of using accounting practices is to determine the correct and accurate way of computing a certain numerical figure that represents the value of a product or a facility. In this case, the margin of committing errors when computing for numerical values are slim because there is a person responsible for handling financial transactions for the company. They are the accountants who are licensed to operate as financial advisors to the company that performs auditing and formulating financially related values of the company’s assets and liabilities. Accounting ethics is important because it deals with the principle of veracity. All details submitted by the accountants with regard to the financial reports of the company are stated in truth. This is in accordance with the statement of agreement that has been done between the accountant and the company to ensure that all information is correct and accurate with the financial reports and transaction histories. Creating financial reports are carefully drafted before finalizing the details because it needs a regular scrutiny with regard to the amount of assets and liabilities that were transacted by the company. This includes the value of a commodity that has been transacted by the company as well as the services that were included with the transactional activities. Reports of financial assets and liabilities are usually checked before confirming by the auditors is critical to prevent any conflicting of information that is indicated from the financial reports. The value of ethics in accounting practices generates a significant structure of involving the company to become functional and reliable. Accountants need to know the mechanics of computing assets and liabilities so that all details are correctly indicated from the financial reports. Financial reports are usually forwarded on a monthly basis so that the company can monitor any progress with its marketing strategies as well as management of its transactions. The value represents the company’s policies and activities to ensure that there are no discrepancies with the financial reporting system. Accounting ethics applies to every accountant by requiring them to undergo a licensure examination after their academic years. This is to allow accountants to be officially recognized as part of the national accounting society who are licensed after passing the board exam. Accountants play a major role in influencing proper standards of ethical values to comply with the regulating agencies against inconsistent reporting of finances. Having a team of licensed accountants values the degree of the company’s rightful way of presenting their financial reports to the public and accounting regulating firms. This is to ensure that the company is always open to allow the public about its presentation of assets on a monthly basis. Consumers can monitor the progress of the company’s asset management structure to determine if they are still competitive in the market. Transparency is an important value applied by the accounting ethics because it displays the truth about the company’s market value and interests over time. In this position, the value of accounting practices ensures that the company always improves its interest as well as virtues to improve its computational practices with the company in an accurate way (Ehrlich, 2016). Reference Ehrlich,  Paul R. (2016),  Conference on population, environment, ethics: where we stand now  (video, 93 min),  University of Lausanne.

a va - Informal How Are You in French

a va - Informal How Are You in French Now that we have studied  the formal ways of saying how are you in French, lets look at the informal ways. a va - How are you / how is it going? The Magical French word!   Ãƒâ€¡a va (pronounced sa va, since the cedilla makes the C pronounced as an S) is truly the magical word of the French language. Why? Because it never changes. You can use a va to ask how are you to one person: Ça va Camille ?Oui, à §a va bien, merci. Et toi ? Whether you are using tu or vous doesnt matter: Ça va madame Chevalier ?Oui, à §a va bien, merci. Et vous ? You can use a vato ask how are you to several people: Ça va bien vous deux ? (How are you both?)Ça va, à §a va, merci. Et toi ? (Fine, fine, and you?) You can even use a va to talk about other people: Et vos enfants, à §a va ? (and your kids, are they OK?)Oui, à §a va bien, merci. Not just people, you can usea va foreverything really! Votre travail, à §a va ? (how is your work?)La santà © de votre mà ¨re, à §a va ? (how is your mothers health?) How cool is that a va - Informal but very common French for how are you Granted,  Ãƒ §a va is not the most formal French. But its so practical that its been used a lot in French lately, and has really made its way in almost all situations: among friends and family, of course, but also at the office, with acquaintances... Its only in the most formal of situations that it may not be appropriate. I wouldnt say to the Queen of England bonjour Votre Majestà ©, à §a va ?...   Ok, now that weve seen how to say  how are you in formal French, and learned about à §a va, lets see how you answer how are you subtlely in French. I post exclusive mini lessons, tips, pictures and more daily on my Facebook, Twitter, and Pinterest pages - so press the links below - talk to you there! https://www.facebook.com/frenchtoday https://twitter.com/frenchToday https://www.pinterest.com/frenchtoday/ https://www.instagram.com/realfrenchtoday/

Questions Assignment Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 500 words - 18

Questions - Assignment Example ime when he got used to my presence he started letting me take some of the toys that weren’t his favorite, although I wasn’t allowed to take the favorite ones. When he realized that I didn’t insist on taking his toys he abandoned his greed and even started passing me some of his favorite toys. Approximately two hours had passed from the very first moment of our meeting to the moment he voluntary gave me his favorite toys. Probably the reason why it took so long for the toddler to socialize was that he was nurtured to be self-centered, though it wasn’t his natural condition because he easily got socialized when his parents weren’t present during the process of communication. Thus the best way for toddlers to learn socialization skills is to actually socialize them. If they start integrating into different groups of other toddlers (like kindergarten) or simply interact with people other than their parents, they will eventually learn the skills by them selves and will socialize more rapidly in the future. 3. A simple game I suggested for a 17 month-old toddler was to construct a small tower (from two to three stages) of ordinary wooden toy blocks. I explained to the boy what I wanted him to do and in the meantime I was showing how exactly he was supposed to construct the tower using the toy blocks. He absolutely got the task and started building the tower. However, sometimes it was quite difficult for him to hold the toy blocks and don’t drop them until he puts them on the right place. The skill he was supposed to learn was the skill to hold an object tight in his hands and be able to twist it to the exact side that he needed to put it down on another object. The toddler experienced certain difficulties with holding the toy blocks because it frequently happened that while twisting a block to the right side he dropped the object and ruined the entire construction. Notwithstanding the difficulties, he learned how to do it in another hour and eventually

Economics of Leisure Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1750 words - 2

Economics of Leisure - Essay Example He believed that the remaining hours could be in pursuit of writing, printing and innovation. In 1930s, John Maynard Keynes, one of the neo-classical economists predicted that people would only need to work for less than 15 hours in a week by 2030. 84 years after Keynes prediction, it appears that people are working even more hours with the advancement of technology. Questions asked by neo classical economists are whether the trends conform to economic priori as adopted by the classical. The discussion in this paper will negate the notion that advancement in technology associated with economic growth results into high leisure hours. It will also discuss the reasons as to why this happens. Economic development which entails the advancement of nation’s institutions has leisure at its focal point. Most nations that are on the take off mainly focus on the economic growth and not development. The developed countries on other hand are mainly focused on enhancing the living standards of its people. It means that leisure remains at the focal point. Despite this, people from these countries still have reduced number of leisure hours. There are however a number of reasons that causes increase and reduced working and leisure hour respectively (Gary 2007). Firstly, the development of technology entails the advancement of consumer goods. Most people are often amazed by new technological advancement such as personal computer, digital camera, internet among other technologies. Therefore, the only way people must maintain this level of technology is to work more hours (Cooke 1994). Research has proved that people will rarely stop working when they have free time, instead they will yearn to get more. As human makes money, there will be a need to make more. Most people have realised that working faster will give them an opportunity to make more money. Through this, most people have realized that their ability of

Compare and contrast the techniques used to discuss colonialism in Essay

Compare and contrast the techniques used to discuss colonialism in Jamaica Kincaids The Ugly Tourist and George Orwells Shooting an Elephant - Essay Example On the other hand, Orwell narrated a story of elephant, that symbolized the oppressed and enlightened about the advance effects of oppression to both the oppressed and oppressors. The article, Shooting an elephant is based in Burma whose colonialist where the British. The colonial rule lasted 124 years (1824-1948) from creation of Burma to its independence as a province in British India. The British had to ensure control of the Burmese people, thus they â€Å"trained the neighboring Indians to take over as civil servants. They also imposed British traditions on the Burmese and encouraged both Chinese and Indians to migrate to Burmese cities so as to profit from the new business opportunities† The British also colonized the Antiguans in the Caribbean whose inhabitants where mostly of African lineage, descendants of slaves brought to work in the sugarcane farms which were established by an Englishman, Codrington in 1684. In George Orwell’s article, he expresses the feeling of been unwanted by the natives and deemed them to be hostile or rather unfriendly, â€Å"as a police officer I was an obvious target and was baited whenever it seemed safe to do so† (Cohen 299). This is a clear indication that the locals despised him and his work and further shows that the colonialists’ were unwanted in the region. Baits were put in place to intimidate the colonialists in an effort to push them away. Orwell further shows the hostility when he says that the referee looked the other way when he was tripped in the football field by another Burman (Cohen 297). The theme of Racism is also emphasized in both works. Orwell refers to the natives as yellow men who always insulted their master while at a distance. The fact that there were insults, from a different skin colored individuals embraced racial discrimination, which ought to be two way. He also shows how the Buddhist stood at street corners jeering at the Europeans. As much as it

Causes of the Break-Up of Czechoslovakia

Causes of the Break-Up of Czechoslovakia The new world order, followed by the post-Cold War era (Collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991 to present) has developed to a rather stable state. Contemporary Europe, the plural ethnicity region, on one hand, Ishiyama et. al., (1998: 2) argued that military force or â€Å"violence follows ethnic tensions as night follows day.† It is therefore, naturally de facto defined as â€Å"dissensus and pregnant with conflict† (Ishiyama et. al., 1998: 2). On the contrary, different in ethnicity and ideologies do not inevitably translate into violent political action (Fearon et. al., 1996: 715-735), for instance: the dissolution of Czechoslovakia in 1993 underwent peacefully with no bloody ethnic conflict involved between the Czechs and Slovaks. Stated succinctly, Czechoslovakia was regarded by many observers as a stabilising element in Central Europe, and many people hoped that it would become a model for the democratic transformation of multinational post-communist state. Structural violence, moreover, is another form of force, which means the social arrangements that place individuals and populations in a harmful way, Farmer et. al., (2006: 49) described the social arrangements are ‘structural’ is mainly due to the embedded political and economic organisation of the social world. The subtle but oftentimes invisible force plays a vital role on the disintegration of the nation. Particularly from Czechoslovakia’s perspective, the differences of the factors such as: the level of economic development, social, structure, culture, political organisation and traditions, along with the values, attitudes, and beliefs of the population, would have an immense impact on the way in which the communist system and the country were set up. (Welchik, 1991: 1) The ostensible contradiction on military force in Czechoslovakia, and the existence of structural violence have led this essay to endeavour whether force (military and/ or structural) is/ are the main means that the nation covers the same geographic areas as the state. The structure of the essay aims to evaluate the above mentioned statement by analysing the Velvet revolution and structural force such as: different in value orientations and political ideologies, imbalanced division in powers, and role of the political elites. Prior to laying the argument any further, brief historical facts behind Czechoslovakia needs to be mentioned. Czechoslovakia was created with the dissolution of Austria-Hungary at the end of World War I, the philosophy of greater unity and a single nation for the sake of economic development and political stability were proposed, hence the integration. Moreover, the integration was characterised by major discontinuities. Czech and Slovak leaders faced many of the same challenges â€Å"including the formation of a new state, its occupation and dismemberment in the WWII, and the imposition of a communist system, that confronted other states in the region† Prucha (1995: 40). Viewed from Slovak’s perspective, it was an independent country that never existed till the end of WWI, and was pulled from Hungary, which ruled those lands for centuries, by Czechs due to relatively close ethnic similarities of both nations, on the basis of panslavic movement, very popular among Czech s. Welchik (1990: 316). In terms of its population, it was evenly shared by Czechs and Slovaks, each made up to approximately fifty per cent of the initial population, and rest of the population were German, Hungarian, and Polish etc. In spite of the ethnic complexity, in the early 1920s, Czechoslovakia was identified as an island of stability in central Europe, to which its credit abroad was greatly enhanced. After 1989, due to Czechoslovakia’s political habitual moderation and the fact that no bloody ethnic conflict had arisen between Czechs and Slovaks in the past, it was regarded by many observers as a â€Å"stabilising element in Central Europe, and many people hoped that it would become a model for the democratic transformation.† Musil (1995: 1). The widespread set of peaceful protests which became widely known as â€Å"Velvet Revolution† occurred in autumn 1989, and eventually led to the disintegration. Moreover, the dissolution was undoubtedly a surprise for many people because two nations share many similarities, for example: linguistic, cultural and historical background. Wilde (2013) summarised three main factors that caused the revolution in 1989: Gunpoint cement of communism had gone, newly democratic Czechoslovakia came to discuss the new constitution, and emergence of discussion on the new constitution and how to government. The Velvet revolution, a resu lt of fall of communism in Eastern Europe, is extremely significant as it highlights a remarkable distinctive result of the disintegrations in Eastern Europe – Czechoslovakia experienced the disintegration with no bloody ethnic conflict and new states formed without the need for welfare; whereas the bloodshed of Yugoslavia made a stark contrast because the state collapsed into welfare and ethnic cleansing. To conclude briefly, the breakaway of the Soviet Union and the Velvet Revolution are two factors that led to the disintegration. In this case, military force and violence, in Czechoslovakia, were not the main means that had integrated nor disintegrated the state. The break-up of the Czechoslovak federation reflected the influence of many factors. Different in conceptions and opinions concerning the division of powers between Czech and Slovak political institutions are highly accountable for the disintegration. Musil (1995: 2) argued regardless of the extra efforts by politicians in the interwar period (1918-1938) and partly after World War II: â€Å"The idea of a common Czechoslovak state did not put down deep roots in Slovak soil†. Indeed, the abstract, yet tangible force – structural violence such as: different structural (level of economic development) and psychological (ideologies), division in powers between Czech and Slovak political institution, and the actions of the political leaders of two nations, can be attributed to the disintegration. Different in level of economic development led to a paternalistic attitude, which continued to exist since the integration of Czechoslovakia. To explain further, Czech was relatively stronger and more active in economic and cultural progress, whilst from Slovaks’ perspective, the junior partner was expecting an ‘equal’ relationship, with regard to economic and cultural development – â€Å"underestimated, discriminated against and underused in state administration and generally handicapped by the Czechs† as KrejcÃÅ'Å’iÃÅ'  (1990: 225) described. Indeed, some Slovaks believed Slovakia to some extent was exploited by its more developed partner, meanwhile the Czechs, held a thought that the Czech Republic’s economic growth would have had a better performance without being obstructed by Slovakia because an excessive transfer of resources was required. Although Ishiyama et. al., (1998: 41) argued the lack of aggressive hostility between the two communities is an apparent evidence to support the statement that structure force/ violence between Czechs and Slovaks were merely existent. It is, however, obvious that such ill-considered misunderstanding underpinned the roots of the tensions between the two communities. Purcha (1995: 41) explained the already fragile concept of a unitary Czechoslovakia was â€Å"eroded by the attitudes of mutual distrust†. Because of the lack of opportunities and willingness to address to the misperceptions and misinterpretations, it gradually became stereotypes, and led to the dissolution. Prihodo (1995: 130) explained the importance of the role of stereotypes â€Å"the dissolution in 1993 was not provoked by external force, so it (the importance of these stereotypes) may be greater than it seems at first glance.† Apart from different in structural perspective, the reasons for the break-up of Czechoslovakia must be sought in the principles of the development of the modern nation, i.e. â€Å"a (rising) separate national awareness of Czechs and Slovaks† Rychlik (1995: 97)

A Cask of Amontillado Essay: Theme of Masonry -- Cask Amontillado Essa

The Theme of Masonry in A Cask of Amontillado  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚  Ã‚   The fundamental question in Edgar Allan Poe's "A Cask of Amontillado" is the nature of Montresor's motive for the revenge he "vowed" to obtain when Fortunato "ventured upon insult" (209). Montresor believes a wrong is "unredressed when the avenger fails to make himself felt as such to him who has done the wrong"(209). While Montresor endeavors to make his vengeance known to Fortunato, the author's references to Masonry in his use of characterization, setting and irony indicate Montresor's motive. Fortunato throws back a bottle of wine in a "gesticulation [Montresor] did not understand," a sign of the Masons, a secret society of which he affirms he is a member (212). This secrecy is emulated in Montresor's slaughter of his foe. Montresor's deadly act, he himself, and ultimately Fortunato are shrouded in secrecy. Montresor's destruction of his foe is carried out at dusk. He leads Fortunato through the darkness "down a long and winding staircase" "into the inmost recesses of the catacombs" "at the most remote end of t...

Distribution of US Budget in Military and Education

Even though the Cold War era is a distant memory, encased in glass forever like some museum piece, our government is still spending as if the Soviet Union was in its prime. If the arms race is a forgotten memory, then why is the military still spending 86% of what it was spending during the Cold War. It†s not that us Americans do not want a solid military, we just believe that our military is wasting billions of dollars at the expense of our children†s education and well being. 50 years ago our country, and the entire world was in disparate need of a strong U.S. military. We inflated our military budget, and gave the government and private businesses an enormous appetite. Without a major threat to the United States since the collapse of the Soviet Union, our government seems to be in competition with itself. 50 years ago we sent tons and tons of troops overseas to fight in a foreign land, while we pumped private businesses up with the manufacturing of military equipment. The need for such products and the need for an over-healthy military allowance is long gone. While we sunk billions after billions of taxpayer†s money on wars that we were boisterously proud to spend (it gave us all the prestige we could ever ask for), our Allies were investing in their children†s education and well being. The result now is that while we have the most elite military capabilities, our children†s educational level is extremely under developed. European and Japanese children significantly outperform American children in math and upper-level reading. This should not be too surprising, our children are studying history books that are from a decade ago. This creates difficult obstacles for our children to keep up on current politics and other global events. Also the over crowding of classrooms makes it extremely difficult for your child to get that personalized learning which may determine his or her ability to learn at all. Every child learns at a different rate and possibly in different ways, this makes it virtually impossible for teachers to tap into every child†s full learning potential. If your child needs that extra, personalized attention, but is not â€Å"defined† as handicapped their specific learning needs will most likely be overlooked and that may be the beginning of your child†s inability to learn. According to a study done by the state of Tennessee, reducing classroom size in early grades (K-3rd) can improve a child†s performance even after being placed back into their regular sized class. Another major problem hindering our children†s education is the fact that the teachers with the priceless responsibility of developing our child†s mind are absolutely underpaid. Teachers barely make an honest living and are often subliminal role models to our young students. Although there are countless exceptionally dedicated teachers in America, a significantly higher salary would ensure the quality of almost all teachers. Remember what we were taught about incentives at a young age, the carrot in front of the rabbit, well that would definitely apply for these individuals we need to count on everyday. So, where is all of the money going to come from to improve our children†s education, well, remember our friend with that uncontrollable appetite? During the Cold War†s prime the U.S. was spending $325 billion a year. And today, with the Cold War boxed up and put on a shelf, the military is still spending $290 billion a year (NCR,1999). This is an alarming figure that we are spending on a military without any outside threat to contend with, in fact it seems to be their only real mission is to play servant to the United Nations, fighting little skirmishes in countries that don†t want our help. One would be hopeful that since we are in an era of peace time that we could enjoy â€Å"peace dividends.† However, the military and those private sector businesses that created such an enormous appetite refuse to exercise a Post-Cold War diet. Maybe we need to e-mail the pentagon, they might be reading our children†s decade old history books, in that case they wouldn†t know that the Berlin Wall is down and the Soviet Union has collapsed. Another astonishing fact is that our country has become the world†s largest arms dealer, selling to almost any country with the money to do business. And if they can†t afford them, our government will put them on a payment plan, acting much like a scene right out of The Godfather. Is this our government, or is this Don Corleone, striking deals with some pretty shady characters. One can†t help wondering where all of this cold hard cash is going from these deals. It is no mystery that our government budgets are in desperate need of reform, well, there are active groups lobbying to change the spending habits of our government. One of the most effective of these groups is the Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, which is comprised of influential individuals like Ben Cohen, cofounder of Ben & Jerry†s; and former assistant secretary of state, Lawrence Korb, along with a cabinet of ex-military and big business leaders. The group is most certainly not an anti-military faction, however they are dedicated to refocusing the military†s useless spending (NCR, 1999). They are not opposed to our military having the best equipment possible, that is if someone were to donate it to them. If the decision is for the military to have a great new ship, or for our children to have a better education, of course the military is going to have to make due. Currently the federal government only participates in 7% of the funding for our schools, while the state and the local community split the rest. This is an raises enormous concerns due to the fact that poorer communities are at a significant disadvantage. Some communities can spend up to five times as much as less fortunate ones (NATIONAL PTA, 1996). To achieve these goals for a better future for our kids and further more, our country, we need to make education our biggest priority. Adding up the military†s inflated $290 billion a year, and comparing it to what†s left over for all other spending, including education, a meager $246 billion (NCR, 1999). This is an insult to our children†s development as growing intellectuals. 6% of the entire budget is allocated for our children†s education, this states the true fact that their education is not important. The money is truly there, we simply need to redirect it and our governments priorities. Like stated by Business Leaders for Sensible Priorities, † The winners and losers are not going to be determined by the size of their gunboats, but by the level of their children†s level of education.†

Analysis of the lay up in basketball Essays

Analysis of the lay up in basketball Essays Analysis of the lay up in basketball Paper Analysis of the lay up in basketball Paper The lay-up shot is one of the most commonly used techniques and you dont have to be 6 feet tall to find the net.  Step 1  The overall aim of the lay-up is to drive towards the basket and score off the backboard. Dribbling to the net from the side of the court should give you the space needed to make the jump.  Step 2  Transfer all your weight onto the front leg. If you are right-handed this will be your left leg or if you are left-handed it will be your right leg. Bending the knee will help provide the spring needed. Step 3  Launch yourself off your forward leg, and thrust your arms upwards towards the net to prepare for the shot. Aim to jump towards the side off the basket and at the top of your leap, roll the ball out your shooting hand.  Step 4  Try and lay the ball softly on to the backboard, hit the top corner of the rectangle on your side of the basket  Mechanics of the lay-up  There are biomechanical movements that take place when performing the lay-up. In the preparation stage there is an important transfer of weight. You must transfer all your weight onto the front leg. If you are right-handed this will be your left leg or if you are left-handed it will be your right leg. Bending the knee will help provide the spring needed. This is known as maximum force application meaning you can get a powerful leap, upwards, towards the basket. To get maximum force application you have to use your legs and arms to generate the force needed to get sufficient height to make the lay-up shot easier and give adequate arm extension. There is also friction being generated between my clients trainers and the court surface. This gives you grip. The lay-up shot is a shot where you bring your hands above your head while you are in mid air. You have your hands above your head in the air with the ball is to raise your centre of gravity which will allow you to stay in the air for longer this is known as your hang time and also so the ball doesnt have to drive as far to the basket, this enables you to more precise and accurate with the shot by laying the ball softly on to the backboard, trying to hit the top corner of the rectangle on your side of the basket. Angle of release also comes into this because you have to release the ball at its highest point in the jump, this means your hands should be above eye level. Comparisons Client and Model Performer My performer when I first tested him when performing the lay-up whilst he was in the air about to release the ball seem to swivel so when he was throwing the ball it wasnt going where it was intended and wasnt very accurate. Model Performers such as Michael Jordan do fancy lay-ups which include a swivel in it but there shots are precise and accurate. My client didnt generate enough force from his legs which should enable him to push of the ground like a spring so this is harder to raise the centre of gravity therefore my client doesnt have long in the air so the shot has to be rushed hence the reason for less amount of shots going in the basket. Whereas the likes of Michael Jordan know they have to generate effective force in his muscles so he can make more baskets and score more points for his team. By him generating the power from his legs and transferring his weight evenly then Michael Jordan knows he can tower above the defenders. My clients momentum wasnt very effective because he was under the basket when he started to do the lay-up so it wasnt going where it was intended to go and the target area of the top corner of the rectangle wasnt effective as my client couldnt see it. Michael Jordan uses momentum to his advantage because he knows maximise speed for example when gaining fouls or evading the defence. My performer didnt bend his knees after landing therefore he couldnt keep his balance. Michael Jordan knows only too well that bending the knees acts as a shock absorber consequently is able to maintain his centre of gravity.

Missing Words Change Everything

Missing Words Change Everything Missing Words Change Everything Missing Words Change Everything By Mark Nichol Empires, fortunes, and people rise and fall and fall on the insertion or omission of a word or two. OK, so the stakes are usually not so high, but misunderstandings and embarrassment are bad enough. Here are sentences that suffer (in increasing order of significance) because they are each missing one or more words. 1. â€Å"The game was created by Jane Roe and John Doe, an actress and former ad man.† When one person, place, or thing is described with two or more words or phrases, the template is â€Å"a/an (blank) and (blank).† When two or more nouns are described in tandem, however, the respective descriptions must be separated not only by a conjunction but also by an additional indefinite article: â€Å"The game was created by Jane Roe and John Doe, an actress and a former ad man.† (Otherwise, the sentence reads as if only John Doe is being described as an actress and former ad man.) 2. â€Å"Polling shows that social issues such as abortion represent perhaps Obama’s best opportunity to draw support from Romney.† This sentence, as written, implies that depending on Barack Obama’s position on abortion, he could obtain the support of his Republican challenger for the US presidency a significant writing (and/or editing) faux pas triggered by the absence of a word that might at first glance seem redundant to from. However, the phrase â€Å"away from,† rather than from alone, correctly indicates that the support would be derived not from Romney but from ambivalent or undecided voters encouraged not to vote for him: â€Å"Polling shows that social issues such as abortion represent perhaps Obama’s best opportunity to draw support away from Romney.† 3. â€Å"Prosecutors in the trial of a hockey mom accused of sex with her son’s teenage teammates gave the boys alcohol.† Although these errors two, not just one, in this example are not as significant in terms of import as the one in the previous example, they are more detrimental to the parties involved. For one thing, the hockey mom, not the prosecutors, allegedly provided alcohol to the youths. Second, the article later details that the woman had sex with two boys on her son’s team, not with â€Å"her son’s teenage teammates† an error of scope that implies that she serviced the entire team. The sentence, based on a reading of the entire article, should read â€Å"Prosecutors in the trial of a hockey mom accused of sex with two of her son’s teenage teammates say she gave the boys alcohol.† Want to improve your English in five minutes a day? Get a subscription and start receiving our writing tips and exercises daily! Keep learning! Browse the Business Writing category, check our popular posts, or choose a related post below:36 Adjectives Describing Light3 Types of HeadingsHow Verbs Become Adjectives

Masculinity and Fight Club Movie Review Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 1250 words

Masculinity and Fight Club - Movie Review Example Masculinity allows Palahniuk to unveil problems and weaknesses of pop culture and place a modern man in this new society. The main character, an unnamed narrator, suffers from depression and anxiety caused by poor job conditions and low salary. It assumes that a line of demarcation can be clearly drawn between tyranny and liberation, between inside and outside, and works to reify these binary oppositions. To some extend, fatally mortgaged to bourgeois individualism, it insists (like so many twelve-step programs) that one can obtain a cure by an act of will (which looks to me far more like an act of repression). Thesis The theme of masculinity helps the author to depict the culture of violence, cruelty and oppression created by pop culture and its values. For as the narrative makes clear, the sexual identity is finally revealed to be fictive, which is to say, strictly relational and dependent upon the roles assigned the participants by a particular scenario. The narrator describes his state as: "This week the insomnia is back. Insomnia, and now the whole world figures to stop by and take a dump on my grave "(Palahniuk 1999, p. 88). In becoming a spectacle, "another man," the main character accedes to the new economy of desire that insists on the unique nature of identities. It also bears witness to the vexed relation between the political and the sexual in American culture and the fact that queer identities at once disrupt the binary opposition between the public and the private and reinforce the belief that the private is the central determining feature, not just of subjectivity, but of the social as well (Connell, 2005). The symbol of the fight club is the main image of masculinity which reflects a true nature of human relations and social values. The rules of the Fight Club are described as: "The first rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club. The second rule of fight club is you don't talk about fight club" (Palahniuk 1999, p. 87). According to the logic of identification, the male subject, as Palahniuk so clearly suggests, can be defined as identifies with and is possessed by '"an other". For as a subject, the narrator is always split into a masculine-and sadistic-half that delights in displaying his prowess and his marksmanship, and a feminine-and masochistic-half that delights in being used as a target. His project, as man and as writer, is to master the femininity that constantly gets in his way, the femininity at which he aims and does not aim, to write his way "out." Similar to the narrator, other characters are also involved in masculine culture and cannot avoid its impact and social significance. Tyler Durden and Robert "Bob" Paulson reflect masculinity and become a part of mass culture. For Tyler Durden, among all the ostensibly revolutionary projects, none is more important than their subversion of the differences between the public and the private spheres. The new settlement, especially under the terms of the domestic revival, works to

Information Technology Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 2500 words

Information Technology - Essay Example They target a limited range in which they work and catch the signals. But mobile phone has a technology to support the user to attend and make calls through any network throughout the world. The mobile phone doesn’t only support calls but also other features which are part of their serves. There are many build in services in cell phones for customers and there are many other services provide by cellular networks. Some of them are SMS, emails, GPRS, instant messaging, infrared, Bluetooth, gaming and MMS. Now mobile phones also feature entertainment accessories like MP3 player, video player, radio and camera. Those mobile phones which have modern advanced technology with different features are also known as smartphones The first mobile phone was made by Dr. Martin Cooper from the company Motorola in 1973. That handset weighted almost 2 kg. The company Motorola released the first mobile phone commercially in 1983, the DynaTAC 8000x. In year 1990 almost 12.4 million people all around the world started using cell phones. And by 2009, the number of cell phone customers reached to 4.6 billion. Before the invention of mobile phones other wireless phones were in use of military or intelligence organizations; such as radio phones and codeless phones. These phone were wireless but had a limited access and usage. They didn’t have wide range and were not very handy. They were heavy in weigh and were quite costly as well. Mobile phones are now becoming customized with new features. These features are making the mobile phones more useable. With each new technology mobile phone are becoming portable and useful. Now with the developing technology the mobile phone has become the necessity of person’s life. And they are also fulfilling the necessities of a person very well. Now we have our entire contact list in our hand to which we can contact anywhere. It also gives us entertainment in our

Impact of Information and Communication Technology Policy on Firms Essay

Impact of Information and Communication Technology Policy on Firms worldwide Operations - Essay Example Please continue to update the olders ones, "A good study should use approximately 100 + peer reviewed references with 80 to 85% being published within the last 3 – 5 years." Please review my comments below: Abstract [Impact of Information and Communication Technology Policy on Firm’s worldwide Operations] By Nisrine Hammache DBA, Walden University, 2010 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University December 2011 Abstract In the contemporary world, information and communication technology is being rated as one of the basic requirements for the success of a business organization. Lately, it has been observed that even after implementing well dedicated architecture of information and communication technology, businesses have still failed. This has created a spur in the minds of small business owners on whether it is worth undertaking such a huge investment. The research paper is div ided into three sections. The first section provides a general overview about the importance of the discipline of information and communication technology; it offers the background, purpose and nature of the study. The hypothesis and the assumptions along with the implications of the social change are clearly stated in this section. The second section deals with the particular project. This comprises the narration and analysis of data, as well as the reliability and the validity of the process and output. Section three encapsulates the presentation of the study and the application of the frame work of information and communication technology in terms of professional practices. The section also comprises the implications of social change, as well as the recommendations and the reflection. In the reading of the subsequent chapters, the essence of information and communication technology increases profitability; better management of international operations is increasingly substantiate d and so the hypothesis is proved in due course. [Impact of Information and Communication Technology Policy on Firm’s Worldwide Operations] by Nisrine Hammache DBA, Walden University, 2010 Doctoral Study Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Business Administration Walden University December 2011 Dedication Acknowledgments Table of Contents List of Figures 9 Section 1: Foundation of the Study 10 Background of the Problem 10 Purpose Statement 12 Nature of the Study 13 Research Question 13 Assumptions 15 Reduction of Gaps 17 Implications for Social Change 18 A Review of the Professional and Academic Literature 19 Transition and Summary 20 List of Figures Fig 1 – Page 15 Fig 2 – Page 16 Fig 3 – Page 17 Fig 4 – Page 18 Fig 5 – Page 19 Fig 6 – Page 20 Fig 7 – Page 21 Fig 8 – Page 22 Fig 9 – Page 23 Fig 10 – Page 24 Section 1: Foundation of the Study An official script w ritten to resolve an immediate business predicament by addressing an existing gap in business practice is referred to as a DBA Doctoral Study. This study will focus on the impact that information and Communication technology policies have on firm’s worldwide operations. In overall, the study comprises three main segments: foundation of the study, the project and application to professional practice, and implications for change. Background of the Problem In every sphere of life change is inevitable, and the information and c

Culture Theory and Popular Culture Essay Example for Free

Culture Theory and Popular Culture Essay The study of culture has, over the last few years, been quite dramatically transformed as questions of modernity and post-modernity have replaced the more familiar concepts of ideology and hegemony which, from the mid-1970s until the mid-1980s, anchored cultural analysis firmly within the neo-Marxist field mapped out by Althusser and Gramsci. Modernity and post-modernity have also moved far beyond the academic fields of media or cultural studies. Hardly one branch of the arts, humanities or social sciences has remained untouched by the debates which have accompanied their presence. They have also found their way into the quality press and on to TV, and of course they have entered the art school studios informing and giving shape to the way in which art practitioners including architects, painters and film-makers define and execute their work. Good or bad, to be welcomed or reviled, these terms have corresponded to some sea-change in the way in which cultural intellectuals and practitioners experience and seek to understand the world in the late 1980s and into the 1990s. Storey claimed that â€Å"postmodernism has disturbed many of the old certainties surrounding questions of cultural value. † This work will consider the issues of postmodernism versus modernism mostly from the perspective of the critics of postmodernism with reference to ‘good’ and ‘bad’ taste. Post-modern cultural movements first emerged in the 1960s in painting, architecture, and literary criticism. Pop art challenged modernist art by experimenting with new cultural forms and contents that embraced everyday life, radical eclecticism, subcultures, mass media, and consumerism. Sociologist Daniel Bell was one of the first to take up the challenge of postmodernism. In The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism (1976) he identified a moral crisis in Western society bound up with the decline of Puritan bourgeois culture and the ascendence of a post-modern culture that he described in terms of an aesthetic relativism and a hedonistic individualism. Yet the most formidable critic of postmodernism and defender of modernity has been German philosopher and heir to the Frankfurt School tradition of critical theory — Jurgen Habermas. There are two problems with postmodernism. The first problem comes into focus around the meaning of the term fragmentation. This is a word which, through over-usage in recent cultural debates, has become shorn of meaning. Post-modernity has been associated by Fredric Jameson (1984) with the emergence of a broken, fractured shadow of a man. The tinny shallowness of mass culture is, he argues, directly reflected in the schizophrenic subject of contemporary mass consciousness. Against Jameson, Stuart Hall (1981) has recently said that it is just this decentring of consciousness which allows him, as a black person, to emerge, divided, yes, but now fully foregrounded on the post-modern stage. So one of the fascinating things about this discussion is to find myself centred at last. Now that, in the postmodern age, you all feel so dispersed I become centred. What Ive thought of as dispersed and fragmented comes, paradoxically, to be the representative modern condition! This is coming home with a vengeance (34). These are, then, two perspectives on the problem of postmodern fragmentation. There is Jameson, who looks back nostalgically to the notion of unity or totality and who sees in this a kind of prerequisite for radical politics, a goal to be striven for. And there is Hall, who sees in fragmentation something more reflective of the ongoing and historical condition of subaltern groups. Jamesons unified man could be taken to be a preFreudian, Enlightenment subject, and thus be discredited by those who have paid attention to Lacans notion of the fragmented subject. But the endorsement of post-modern fragmentation is equally not without its own problems. Have we become more fragmented than before? Can we specifically name a time and a place for the moment of fragmentation? Is fragmentation the other of humanity? Or is the representation of fragmentation coincidental with political empowerment and liberation? Christopher Norris (1990) has argued that post-modernity (and postmodern fragmentation) stands at the end of the long line of intellectual inquiry which starts with Saussure, works its way through post-structuralism and Lacanian psychoanalysis and ends with Baudrillard. In Norriss terms fragmentation is to be understood as marking an absolute and irreparable break with the unified subject, a break which is now writ large in culture. Present-day fragmented subjectivity is captured and expressed in post-modern cultural forms, a kind of superficial pick-and-mix of styles. According to Jameson, however, unfragmented subjectivity, by contrast, produced great works of uncluttered heroic modernism. There is a degree of slippage in the connections being made here. The problem lies, at least partly, in the imprecise use of the word fragmentation. There is a vacillation between the high psychoanalytical use of Lacan and a much looser notion, one which seems to sum up unsatisfactory aspects of contemporary cultural experience. Modernists, however, also felt confused and fragmented. Fragmentation, as a kind of structure of feeling, is by no means the sole property of those living under the shadow of the post-modern condition. Bewilderment, anxiety, panic: such expressions can be attributed to any historical moment as it is transposed into cultural and artistic expression over the last a hundred and fifty years. The category of fragmentation seems to have become either too technical to be of general use (i. e. in Lacans work) or too vague to mean anything more than torn apart. The second question which might be asked of neo-Marxist critics of postmodernity, concerns determination, and the return to a form of economic reductionism in cultural theory. Fredric Jameson argues that postmodernism is the cultural logic of capital, but his argument, as Paul Hirst writing about trends in both New Times and post-modern writing, has suggested, slips from a rigid causal determinism into casual metaphor (45). Jameson, going back to Mandels Late Capitalism, has argued that the kinds of cultural phenomena which might be described as post-modern form part of the logic of advanced or late capitalism. This does away, at a sweep, with the difficult issue of explaining the precise nature of the social and ideological relationships which mediate between the economy and the sphere of culture and it simultaneously restores a rather old-fashioned notion of determination to that place it had occupied prior to Althussers relative autonomy and his idea of determination in the last instance (67). Quoting Lyotard, Harvey (1989) takes up the notion of the temporary contract as the hallmark of post-modern social relations. What he sees prevailing in production, in the guise of new forms of work, he also sees prevailing in emotional life and in culture, in the temporary contract of love and sexuality. Like Jameson he decries this state and looks forward to something more robust and more reliable, something from which a less fractured sense of self and community might emerge. He views postmodern culture disparagingly, as aesthetic rather than ethical, reflecting an avoidance of politics rather than a rising to the challenge of a politics posed by new or changing conditions of production. Despite their sweeping rejection of post-modern writing, both Jameson and Harvey take advantage of the conceptual and methodological breadth found in these theories to circumvent (or short-circuit) the key problems which have arisen in cultural studies in the attempt to specify and under-stand the social relations which connect culture to the conditions of its production. Their conceptual leap into a critique of postmodernism allows these writers to avoid confronting more directly the place of Marxism in cultural studies from the late 1980s into the 1990s, a moment at which Marxism cannot be seen in terms other than those of eclipse or decline. Postmodernism exists, therefore, as something of a convenient bete noire. It allows for the evasion of the logic of cultural studies, if we take that logic to be the problematizing of the relations between culture and the economy and between culture and politics, in an age where the field of culture appears to be increasingly expansive and where both politics and economics might even be seen, at one level, as being conducted in and through culture. Structuralism has replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is apparent in its rereading of texts highly placed within an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy. Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advertising images, and girls and womens magazines rounding it off. Other forms of representation, particularly music and dance, are missing altogether. Andreas Huyssen in his 1984 introduction to postmodernism draws attention to this high structuralist preference for the works of high modernism, especially the writing of James Joyce or Mallarme. There is no doubt that centre stage in critical theory is held by the classical modernists: Flaubert†¦in Barthes†¦Mallarme and Artaud in Derrida, Magritte†¦ in Foucault†¦Joyce and Artaud in Kristeva†¦and so on ad infinitum (Huyssen, 1984:39). He argues that this reproduces unhelpfully the old distinction between the high arts and the low, less serious, popular arts. He goes on to comment: Pop in the broadest sense was the context in which a notion of the post-modern first took shape†¦and the most significant trends within postmodernism have challenged modernisms relentless hostility to mass culture. High theory was simply not equipped to deal with multilayered pop. Nor did it ever show much enthusiasm about this set of forms, perhaps because pop has never signified within one discrete discourse, but instead combines images with performance, music with film or video, and pin-ups with the magazine form itself’ (Huyssen, 1984:16). In recent article, where Hebdige (1988) engages directly with the question of postmodernism, he disavows the playful elements in Subculture†¦and, more manifestly, in the new fashion and style magazines. In contrast with what he sees now as an excess of style, a celebration of artifice and a strong cultural preference for pastiche, Hebdige seeks out the reassuringly real. He suggests that the slick joky tone of postmodernism, especially that found on the pages of The Face, represents a disengagement with the real, and an evasion of social responsibility. He therefore insists on a return to the world of hunger, exploitation and oppression and with it a resurrection of unfragmented, recognizable subjectivity. He fleetingly engages with an important characteristic of the post-modern condition, that is, the death of subjectivity and the emergence, in its place, of widespread social schizophrenia. Hebdige seems to be saying that if this rupturing of identity is what postmodernism is about, then he would rather turn his back on it. The position of Clement Greenberg in his 1980 lecture entitled The Notion of the Post-Modern could be summarized in the following terms: modernism in painting has been, since its inception with Manet and the impressionists, a heroic struggle against the encroachment of bad taste or kitsch in the domain of art; postmodernism is only the latest name under which commercial bad taste, masquerading as sophisticated â€Å"advancedness,† challenges the integrity of art. Any deviation from modernism, then, involves a betrayal or corruption of aesthetic standards. Seen from this vantage point, the â€Å"post-modern† cannot be much more than a renewed â€Å"urge to relax,† particularly pervasive after the advent of pop art, with its deleterious effects on the art world. This type of argument (modernisms self-conscious mission, to exorcise bad taste from the domain of high art, is today as urgent as it ever was) appears in a variety of forms and shapes in the writings of the defenders of modernist purity against the infiltrations of commercialism and fashion. This realized art, however, is not in a harmonious universal style as Mondrian was envisaging. It consists mostly in forms of art considered banal, sentimental, and in bad taste by most in the Fine Art artworld. Further, because so many people have no interest in Fine Art, it is often thought that visual art has somehow lost its relevance and potency. People ask what the point of art is, and whether it is worthwhile spending public money on art. When people think of art, they think of Fine Art, and the influence of Fine Art seems to be in decline. However, although Fine Art seems to be in decline as a cultural force, visual art has more power in culture now than it ever had. Visual art is not all Fine Art. There is a diversity of kinds of art in contemporary culture. Besides Fine Art, there is also Popular Art, Design Art, and advertising. What Fine Art does for us is just a small part of the total cultural value we get from art. As traditional culture recedes from memory, and technology changes our lifestyles, people look for new values and lifestyles. These new values and lifestyles are carried by the art broadcast over the mass media and on the products we buy. The mass-media arts define our heroes and tell us about the good. Advertisements define pleasure and lifestyle. With mass-market goods we dress our bodies and houses in art, thus using art to define who we are. These contemporary visual arts play a large part in shaping our values, fantasies, and lifestyles. However, conventional art histories tend not to treat the other powerful visual arts of our own time beyond Fine Art, namely, Popular Art, Design Art, and advertising. Advertising is not considered â€Å"art† because it is not functionless beyond being aesthetic. Also, the advertising does not typically show personal expressive creativity. So, the Design Arts are typically considered mere decoration. Popular Art is thought of as in bad taste, banal, sentimental, and so not worthy of consideration either. Since art histories are only looking at â€Å"good† art, they tend not to consider these other arts. Standing as they most often do within the Fine Art art world, art historians use the ideology and sense of artistic value of Fine Art to evaluate all art. From the perspective of the contemporary art world, Popular Art is thought of as a kind of Fine Art; that is, bad Fine Art or Fine Art in bad taste. It seems hackneyed and banal to the Fine Art art world. From their perspective, popular taste is bad taste. For example, Osvaldo Yero, an artist who emerged in the 1990s, has based his work on the technique and poetics of the plaster figures. These figures, mostly decorations, but also religious images, were perhaps considered the last gasp of bad taste. They constituted the epitome of â€Å"uncultivated† appropriation of icons from the â€Å"high† culture as well as from mass culture, done in a poor and artificial material par excellence, worked clumsily in a semi-industrial technique and polychromed with pretentious attempts at elegance. They symbolized the triumph of â€Å"vulgarity, † the failure of the â€Å"aesthetic education of the masses† proposed by socialism. By the 1920s business and advertising agencies had realized that putting style and color choices into the products they made increased consumption. Through the use of advertising and by designing stylistic variety into their products, manufacturers elevated things into the category of fashion goods that had before just been utility goods, like towels, bedding, and bathroom fixtures. Previously these items did not have any style component, but now designers added decoration to their functional design. This meant that now consumers could choose products not just for function, but also for style. People could now have pink sheets, green toilets, and blue phones. There is a tension in design style between aesthetic formalist styles like the international style, and design styles that are figurative. Those favoring figurative design tend to think of products as coming in a great variety and designed to appeal to the various tastes of consumers. Here the style of the products are not dictated by function, but by market pressures. This is a further development of design for sales. This gave rise to what is known as niche marketing, where the styling is targeted to a smaller, more specific group than mass marketing is. Thus, they shun the idea of a unified worldwide machine aesthetic. For example, a razor can be pink with flowers on it to target it to female users, and black with blue accent lines to target it to male users. The razor is the same, but the razor is packaged with different styling to sell the product to different markets. In designing for niche markets, the styling reflects the class, age group, profession, and aspirations of the target group. This goes hand in hand with advertising, and requires a great deal of research to discover what these values are and what styling motifs succeed in communicating them. The exemplary text or the single, richly coded image gives way to the textual thickness and the visual density of everyday life, as though the slow, even languid look of the semiologist is, by the 1980s, out of tempo with the times. The field of postmodernism certainly expresses a frustration, not merely with this seemingly languid pace, but with its increasing inability to make tangible connections between the general conditions of life today and the practice of cultural analysis. Structuralism has also replaced old orthodoxies with new ones. This is apparent in its rereading of texts highly placed within an already existing literary or aesthetic hierarchy. Elsewhere it constructs a new hierarchy, with Hollywood classics at the top, followed by selected advertising images, and girls and womens magazines rounding it off. Other forms of representation, particularly music and dance, are missing altogether. Huyssen argues that â€Å"Pop in the broadest sense was the context in which a notion of the post-modern first took shape, and the most significant trends within postmodernism have challenged modernisms relentless hostility to mass culture. High theory was simply not equipped to deal with multilayered pop. † References Bell, Daniel. (1976). The Cultural Contradictions of Capitalism. New York: Basic Books. C. Norris, Lost in the funhouse: Baudrillard and the politics of postmodernism, in R. Boyne and A. Rattansi (eds) Postmodernism and Society, London, Macmillan, 1990. Hall, Stuart, Connell, Ian and Curti, Lidia (1981). The unity of current affairs television, in T. Bennett et al. (eds) Popular Television and Film, London: BFI. Harvey, David (1989). The Condition of Postmodernity, Oxford: Blackwell. Hebdige, Dick (1979). Subculture: The Meaning of Style, London: Routledge. Huyssen, A. (1984). Mapping the postmodern, New German Critique 33. Jameson, Fredric (1984). Postmodernism, or the cultural logic of late capitalism, New Left Review 146.

The Path to Knowledge :: Philosophy Papers

The Path to Knowledge Recent ethnographies suggest that tribal cosmologies address topics of philosophical relevance and offer valuable insights into the nature of perennial philosophical problems. For example, while postmodern and feminist thought has argued that the verification of knowledge is directly related to political interests, I argue that there are other vantage points not related to such interests that serve as valuable measures for the acceptance of knowledge. Direct empirical verification of the ontological presuppositions that govern the assessment of anthropos in the context sub species aeternitatis empowers an individual to understand his or her role within culture as well. The methodological bounty described in ethnography signals for philosophers to question the categorization of transcendence merely as 'religious experience.' This paper argues that humans may have the capacity both to recognize the divine and to give objective descriptions through symbols and language which allow for t he development of methodologies in order to access that knowledge at will. Many postmodern and feminist thinkers place knowledge into the domain of politics and power. Such insights allow for the deconstruction of social realities and for postulating democratic principles in accepting multicultural philosophies. The recognition of form, however, cannot substitute for content. The educative function of politics reveals important insights into the human condition and allows one, for example, to see postmodernity in the context of historical events, such as the resourceful relationship between reason and capitalism, the transition from living law to positive law (cf. Northrop 1960), and the shaping of thought through liberalism and nihilism. An important feature of postmodern thought is its acceptance of multiplicities of viewpoints. By entertaining disparate claims for truth that originate in diverse methodological and historical origins, postmodernitsts learn to employ creative strategies to solve conceptual disjunctions much like anthropologists must learn to cope with the collapse of their worldviews when 'going native.' Such experiences, however, can be fertile ground wherein new scientific methodologies might have a chance to blossom. A recent study on tribal epistemologies (Wautischer 1998) demonstrates a type of understanding that stands outside the methodological scope of naturalistic observation. The exploration of human consciousness beyond linguistic thought will caution any philosopher to claim that behavior and intelligence can be understood by referring to deterministic principles. In this context, philosophical discourse continues to fulfill a vital role in educating humanity. It is misleading to assume that philosophical inquiry is primarily a political enterprise. Rather, a philosophical sense of wonder gives value and respect to diversity, gives empathy for other human beings, and concern for other life forms.

Free Essays - The Phony Holden of Catcher in the Rye :: Catcher Rye Essays

The Phony Holden of Catcher in the Rye J.D. Salinger writes about a young man who is very distraught after World War II. In Salinger's only published novel The Catcher in the Rye he talks about a young man who does not understand society and the surroundings he lives in. He keeps referring back to how everyone and everything around him is a phony. He makes himself seem unreliable by telling the reader that he lies openly. In the novel Holden is what you would call an unreliable narrator. The definition of unreliable is - a person or thing that cannot be counted on or trusted. You cannot trust Holden if you know that he lies all the time. Since the reader knows that he is a habitual liar you may never know the difference from when he is telling the truth or when he is telling another one of his stories. Holden goes in and out of mental lapses throughout the novel that affected his mind and psychological state greatly. Holden is an unreliable narrator for many reasons. Holden tells the reader that he lies all the time and sometimes does not even notice that he is lying. Holden does not see things beneath the surface. Finally he is not mentally stable and feels very insecure about many things. Susan K. Mitchell's comments talk about how Holden is confused about the world and the people who are around him. He is an immature man who is still recovering from the effects the war had on him. He has also just failed out of school and so that has sent him into further depression. Holden sometimes contradicts his statements that he said earlier on and he doesn't realize it. "Holden is a man who does not practice what he teaches."(Mitchell 1) "You cannot believe what Holden says about his family after he has told you that he lies."(2) "Holden tells falsifications so often that he doesn't even realize whether he is lying or telling the truth."(2) Holden tells Sally he loves her, "It was a lie of course, but the thing is, I meant it when I said it."(2) "Since the book is told through the eyes of the narrator our observations are biased.

Crash Movie Review

Misconception The 2004 movie Crash, directed by Paul Haggis, is a resemblance of how our society is today. It demonstrates people’s actions during their daily lives. There is a disconnection between every person and that is what makes each individual who they are. One way of depicting each person is through their actions, decisions, and the way they deal with people. Throughout the movie hate crime and hate speech was captured in the movie Crash through several characters. The one which I could easily identify was with the Persian family, Farhad the husband, Shareen the wife, and the daughter Dorri.Several incidents occurred that could be portrayed in reality. The family business store was robed at gun point and to prevent the incident from occurring again, the family decided to purchase a gun for protection. Protection of a gun was the only way that Farhad could feel safe. Often people think that having a gun is the only way to not be harmed and the movie challenges that per ception. Purchasing the gun was difficult because Farhad was from the Middle East. Dirk, the gun owner, gave the family a hard time when he denied them the right to purchase the gun.I believe the gun seller had the mentality that the Persians were Arabian and that they were planning a terroristic attack. After the 911 attack in society, most Americans judge anybody with Arabian characteristics as the â€Å"evil† people. They feel that they are in America for one purpose and that is to cause terror. The store was vandalized and graffiti of the nationality Arab was mistakenly (the family is Persian) drawn on the wall of Farhad’s store. The family was victims of hate crime and hate speech without any justice; they were being attacked because of assumptions of being Arabian.The judgment on the family’s ethnicity is something that constantly occurs around America. Personally, my family is Haitian and they speak Creole, since my family looks African American but speak another language, some people easily assume that they are African. My family has an accent and there were times when we would go to stores and people of other races would insult my family and tell them to go back to Africa because they could not understand what they were saying. My family had several situations where they had to leave a store a restaurant because of being a different ethnicity.Throughout the movie, one would think that Farhad would have better treatment toward other people because of how others treat him and his family, but he displays the same treatment given to him, to others. After the store was vandalized, the shopkeeper called a locksmith by the name of Daniel to repair the lock. The lock was repaired, but it was the door that needed to be replaced and Daniel informed Farhad of this. The cold harsh treatments of other people cause Farhad to treat others the same way.He becomes offensive and disrespects the repairman because he feels that the repairman is tryin g to rip him off. Daniel constantly told Farhad that the door needed to be replaced and Farhad did not take his words into consideration. Farhad insulted him and the repairman was so angry that he left without getting paid for his work. The door not being fixed caused Farhad to have more animosity to people outside his race. Aside from showing the animosity of foreigners, this movie also shows that Americans are not friendly people and mistreat foreigners who come to America for a better life.The Persian family has their own store and it was their most prized possession in America. The young people hated them so much that they broke into their store and vandalized it. The vandalized store caused Farhad to blame the repairman. Whenever there is problem, human beings seem to never take accountability for their actions and blame other people before blaming themselves. Farhad accused the repairman for being at fault for the destructions of his store and tried to get his insurance to cov er the damages.The insurance could not reimburse Farhad for the damages of his store because the repairman told Farhad that the door needed to be replaced. Therefore, Farahad decided to get justice on his own. He wanted to retaliate and he identified the home address of the locksmith and waited on him to come home from work. Farhad saw the locksmith approach his home so Farhad walked toward him and pointed a gun at him. The Daniel’s daughter, Laura, saw the altercation, ran and jumped up on her father to give him a hug and protect him from getting shot.Farhad pulls the trigger and nothing happens to the little girl. Farhad’s decision was selfish; he was too concerned about his shop and did not realize that killing a human being was not the right decision. Being that the shopkeeper, Farhad, is an immigrant, he was hated by Americans and it caused him to hate other nationalities as well. He wanted justice and he felt that the only way he can get it was by matching the ha tred of his, with the hatred of his ethnicity, from other people. The people who vandalized Farhad’s store were negligent and did not accept diversity.Farhad’s was tired of being hated because of his ethnicity, so he decided to take action. He was mistreated and he wanted the mistreatment to stop, he wanted to retaliate and make Daniel pay for the vandalism of his store. People in our society often feel that the only way that they can feel better about a person or situation is if they resolve it through fighting or killing. These conflicts are resolved by negative decisions of crimes and hurtful words because of being different in a society. There needs to be more peace and less violence in the world and the movie Crash exemplifies why.

India-Now And Then Essays - Indian Caste System, Caste, Free Essays

India-Now And Then Essays - Indian Caste System, Caste, Free Essays India-Now and Then My report is on India. India is a place very different from ours. Not many have deeply explored this culture and yet we desire more. I hope to clear up and explain the history, religion, and culture of India. As I have researched. The history of India is a long and proud one. Though the nation in quite poor it has been able to withstand the tests of time. Then it developed the caste system. A sytem of dividing people into groups. Well, it is still around today but we will discuss that later. The country started by poeple migrating to it. Many of the old customs developed back then like you are not truly part of a family or caste until you marry and have a child still remain today. There are two major religions practiced in India. They are Buddhism and Hinduism. Yet, you are aloud to worship any god you please and are encouraged to. And this right is garaunteed under their constitution. And people mostly group and talk among one another with their own religion. Wich is sad stoping people from bonding with others of other religions. The culture of India differs very much from ours. Especially the caste system wich was explained above. There are rules that go along with being in a caste. Some are you may not eat with a person of higher or lower caste, you may not sit with a person of higher or lower caste, you may not marry a person of higher or lower caste, and you can not have a child with someone of a higher or lower caste. Also the highest caste has to be generous to the lower castes while the lower castes have to be very generous to the higher caste. In closing I hope you now explain a little more about India and it people, customs, culture, and religion.

Named Full Moons - The Twelve Named Full Moons of the Year

Named Full Moons - The Twelve Named Full Moons of the Year There are typically twelve named full moons every year,  according to the Farmer’s Almanac and many sources of folklore. These names are geared toward northern hemisphere dates for historical reasons having to do with northern hemisphere observers. The full moon is one of the phases of the Moon and is marked by a fully lit Moon in the night sky. January The first full moon of the year is called the Wolf Moon. This name comes from the time of year when the weather is cold and snowy and in some places, the wolves run in packs, prowling for food. This is also called the Moon after Yule since it occurs after the December holidays.   February This months full moon is called Snow Moon. This name was used because, in much of the north country, this month has the heaviest snowfalls. It has also been called the Full Hunger Moon because bad weather kept the hunters out of the fields and that often meant a lack of food for their populations.   March Early springtime welcomes the Worm Moon. This name recognizes that March is the month when the ground begins to warm in the northern hemisphere, and the earthworms return to the surface. Sometimes this one is called the Full Sap Moon because this is the month when people tap their maple trees to make syrup. April The first full month of northern hemisphere spring brings the Pink Moon. It salutes the return of the ground flowers and mosses and the continued warming weather. This Moon is also called the Full Fish Moon or the Full Sprouting Grass Moon.   May Since May is the month when people see more and more flowers coming, its full moon is called Flower Moon. It marks the time when farmers traditionally plant corn, which leads to Corn Planting Moon.   June June is a time of strawberries coming ripe, so this months full moon, Strawberry Moon, is named in their honor. In Europe, people also called this one the Rose Moon, for the flower that comes into full bloom this month.   July This month brings the Buck Moon, named for the time that buck deer start to sprout their new antlers. This is also the time when fishing was best. Some people also called this the Full Thunder Moon for the frequent storms.   August Late summer in the northern hemisphere brings the Fruit or Barley Moon. August is universally a time to begin the harvest north of the equator and so this months full moon commemorates that. It Some people also called this the Full Sturgeon moon, in honor of the fish.    September Harvest Moon  or Full Corn Moon is one that gets a lot of interest for farmers around the world. In the northern hemisphere, September has always marked the harvest period for some of the most important food grains. If conditions are right, the farmers can work under the light of this moon until well into the night, thus getting more food stored for the winter.   Through most of the year, the Moon rises each day about 50 minutes later than the day before. However, when the September equinox approaches (it occurs around September 22, 23, or 24th each year), the difference in  rising  times drops to about 25 to 30 minutes. Farther north, the difference is 10 to 15 minutes. This means that in September, the Full Moon that rises close to the equinox could be rising close to (or even after) sunset. Traditionally, farmers used those extra minutes of sunlight to put more work in on harvesting their crops. Thus, it gained the name Harvest Moon, and it can occur  anytime  between September 8 and October 7. Today, with advances in farming, and the use of electric lights, the extra minutes of light arent as important. Yet, we have kept the name Harvest Moon to refer to the full moon that occurs closest to the September equinox. This full moon may be more important to some for religious purposes. (See   Pagan/Wiccan  and   Alternative Religions) October Hunters Moon or Blood Moon occurs this month. ​It marks the time for hunting the fattened deer, elk, moose, and other animals that can be used for food. The name harkens back to societies where hunting to stock up food for the winter was important; most notably, in North America, the various native tribes could more easily see animals in the fields and forests after the harvests were brought in and the leaves had fallen from the tree. In some places, this moon marked a special day and night of feasting.   November Beaver Moon occurs in this very late autumn month. In the past, when people hunted beaver, November was thought to be the best time for trapping these furry animals. Since the weather turns cold in November, many people often called this a Frosty Moon, too.   December Cold or Long Nights Moon comes as winter is ushered in. December marks the time of year when the nights are longest and days are shortest and coldest in the Northern Hemisphere. Sometimes people have called this the Long Night Moon.   Its important to remember that these names served a useful purpose helping early people, particularly Native Americans and other cultures to survive. The names allowed tribes to keep track of the seasons by giving names to each recurring full moon. Basically, the entire month would be named after the full moon occurring that month. Although there were a few differences between the names used by different tribes, mostly, they were similar. As European settlers moved in, they began to use the names as well.   Edited and expanded by Carolyn Collins Petersen.